Permeation testing has traditionally focused on the use of swatches to measure breakthrough time or total cumulative mass of breakthrough at a specified time. Such an approach is appropriate for testing materials; however, these fixtures are limited to flat swatches.
Previous efforts have shown the need for contact testing to measure the contamination level on the underside of a protective material. While vapor methods for whole gloves have been developed, they may underestimate the breakthrough potential for low-volatility compounds (pesticides and chemical warfare agents), which pose a greater hazard from contact uptake into the skin, as opposed to vapor exposure.